Is the fighting over?

Not quite.State television showed Prime Minister Abadi touring Mosul on foot alongside residents of Iraq's second-largest city. But
air strikes and exchanges of gunfire could still be heard in the narrow
streets of Mosul's Old City, where the Islamic State has staged its
last stand.Prime Minister Abadi is yet to issue a formal declaration that the entire city has been retaken.
So day 265 and, in fact, The Mosul Slog continues.

Yet Abadi’s declaration is premature, and not only because [the Islamic State] still holds much territory in Iraq. Enormous
challenges remain. Sectarian fault lines that allowed the extremist
group to grow and then take control have not gone away, but instead
become worse. Some 3 million people are displaced around Iraq, and many
will not be eager to return home if places such as Mosul are not quickly
rebuilt.And the state must now deal with the militias it has relied upon, which will not be eager to disarm.

Yes, there are a number of smaller cities to the south
and west of Mosul, and we’re expecting that the military campaign will
continue with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. The battle is not
over against ISIS by any stretch in Iraq. And in addition to those
cities, we expect that there will be an insurgency, that there will be
asymmetrical terrorist type attacks in Mosul and other parts of Iraq.
So, it — really stabilizing Iraq will continue to be an important
mission for the security forces.

Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, was quick to claim credit for
the city’s liberation, making a visit in person on Sunday. But Abadi
and his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, also bear some responsibility for
losing control in the first place. Few people outside of Iraq
and Syria predicted Isis’s rise or its victorious advance in 2014. With
hindsight, it became clear the group fed on fierce resentment among
Iraq’s Sunni Muslim minority at the failure of the Shia-led Baghdad
government to provide equal treatment. Some in Mosul initially welcomed
its arrival.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
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